Canada allocates $800,000 for Holocaust survivor testimony

TORONTO — Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced grants totalling $800,000 that will go to four Jewish organizations to gather video testimony from survivors of the Holocaust.

“Canada has been profoundly shaped by approximately 40,000 Holocaust survivors who resettled across our country after World War II,” said Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney. “As Canadians, it is our responsibility to learn from these brave individuals and ensure that the horrible events of the Holocaust are not forgotten and ensure that such atrocities never happen again.”

The grants will be allocated through Inter-Action, Canada’s multiculturalism grants and contributions program.

The recipients are:

• The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, for a program to support the preservation, access and use of Holocaust survivor testimonies in schools;

• The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre and the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, which will partner to digitize existing footage of Holocaust survivors’ testimonies;

• The Jewish Federations of Canada-United Israel Appeal of Canada for a digital archive of Holocaust survivor testimonies for use during the March of the Living.

The March of the Living is an annual educational program that brings students from around the world to Europe to explore the remnants of the Holocaust.

These projects support Canada’s goal, as 2013 chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), held in Toronto Oct. 6 to 10, to promote Holocaust remembrance, research and education across Canada. Federal support will enable these organizations to educate Canadians on what Holocaust survivors went through and to make essential teaching tools more accessible to Holocaust educators, the ministry stated in a news release.

Kenney announced the grants at a special event to honour Holocaust survivor educators, held in conjunction with the biannual IHRA working meetings.